LOS ANGELES — Jessica Alba certainly hit the gym in order to snap back into shape after giving birth for the first time, but the "Fantastic Four" star says that wasn't her real secret.
"I wore a girdle," the 28-year-old actress reveals in the March issue of Elle. "Eight weeks after my girlfriend had her baby, you could see her six-pack. She told me to put an elastic band around my waist — any kind of band or girdle works. She was like, 'I slept in it.' "
While her friend's advice proved beneficial, Alba admits the two pals bounced back in different ways.
"I didn't recover as fast as she did," says Alba, who welcomed her baby daughter Honor last June. "I don't have a six-pack — that's just not my body at all."
Alba says being the 2009 Calendar Girl for the Campari campaign forced her to get back into shape quickly, enduring workouts that "were horrible" along the way.
"I cried. And I haven't worked out since," she tells the mag.
While her training was difficult, the former "Dark Angel" star says childbirth was surprisingly easy.
"Contractions aren't that bad," she tells Elle. "If you've ever had bad cramps? That's what they're like. But that moment when they put the baby on your chest — that's deep. It's a deep experience."
The new mother says getting back to work has proven to be a challenge now that she has a little one waiting for her back home.
"This is the first time I've been away from her," says Alba. "It's been six days. It sucks; it's the worst thing ever. But we Skype, so I can see her on video. The worst is when you can see her little chubby hands grab the screen, and I'm not there."
The thought of being away from her daughter quickly brings Alba to tears.
"That's a new thing — I never cried before," she says. "Just being a mother is making me a big, weepy mess."
